Teaser Trailer for RAMBO: LAST BLOOD Starring Sylvester Stallone

In all honesty, I’ve never seen any of the Rambo films and have even more honestly, have never had any interest in doing so. Rocky was always more my dude and my speed given those films are what came along first as suggested by my more sports-inclined household growing up. And so, while I have literally zero point of reference with Sylvester Stallone’s other noteworthy franchise that began in 1982 with First Blood I imagine I’ll be doing some catching up this summer given the subtitle of this new film indicates some serious finality to the series. That said, what’s more interesting to me is the fact that at seventy-two Stallone is more or less getting all of his affairs in order with each of his major characters as just last year he said a likely final farewell to Rocky Balboa in Creed II and in this seven year-later sequel to 2008’s Rambo it seems he will be doing the same with this character. How does it feel to so openly acknowledge your mortality to the point you publicly label a film you’re the star of to be the final one and not just that, but the final one in a series that began when you were thirty-six? I can only imagine Stallone feels as if he just shot First Blood not too long ago and so to be at a place in this plain of existence where it’s actually been as many years since that first film as he was years old when he made it has to be both a real head trip and in many ways-as devastating as it is pride inducing. And while I haven’t seen any of the previous Rambo movies it’s not hard to see that this first trailer for this last go-around promises something of a different approach-at least geographically. I always remember Rambo seeming to take place in jungles or environments that were heavily green in their aesthetic where the titular character was probably not indigenous to, but with Last Blood it seems as if Stallone (who co-wrote the screenplay) has appropriately carried the character into retirement and possibly even into the western genre? We shall see how Stallone and director Adrian Grunberg (2012's Get the Gringo) desire soon enough I guess, but until then I have some catching up to do. Rambo: Last Blood also stars Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adrianna Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim aka Yenah Han, Joaquin Cosio, Oscar Jaenada, and opens on September 20th, 2019.

KILL THE MESSENGER Review

Kill the Messenger is a true tragedy. A discussion, a meditation on the human life and the countless directions it could go according to the mind that is guiding it. It is a story that takes on the model of what its main character goes through reinforcing the difficulty with which he experiences in trying to follow the guiding light he caught a glimpse of as a child. Despite what else might go on in his life Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner) is an idealistic journalist who believes in the power of his profession. He is a man held to the virtues of his responsibilities to the American public and, as he should, takes that responsibility seriously. He is as ambitious as he needs to be in wanting to crack the one big story that might break his career wide open and send him from the bowels of the San Jose Mercury News to the big leagues of the The Los Angeles Times or Washington Post though these ambitions never feel as important as his need to produce quality. What the film tells of more than it does necessarily follow the plot of the story Webb is investigating is the role of man in our society when he plays with the powers that be. What is wrong with our government if we are not allowed to question them without repercussion? In this case the repercussion is that of Webb becoming the story, his credibility called into question, rather than what he'd actually investigated and reported on being the story or point of focus. It is as much a commentary on the integrity of investigative journalism and how it has devolved into what we have today (the 24-hour news cycle on roids) as it is an interesting take on the state of our country which promises and promotes freedom, but will devour you if you take those liberties to a certain extent. Kill the Messenger is an engaging film, one reminiscent of those 1970's Robert Redford films (namely All the President's Men) taking the paranoid political thriller and transcending even that genre classification because of the real life weight the story holds. It is a film that I was thoroughly engrossed in from the way in which it developed Renner's character, giving us more of who this man was than simply a hungry reporter, without allowing the film to become bogged down in details. It is as thoroughly engrossing as it is heartbreaking and as it comes to its conclusion it reveals itself to be truly that.

First Trailer for KILL THE MESSENGER

I don't mind seeing Jeremy Renner take on the blockbuster and franchise roles that he's kept busy with since breaking out six years ago, but after his underwhelming showing in last years much-hyped American Hustle it is good to see the actor getting back to basics and playing someone like Gary Webb in a tough, gritty procedural like Kill the Messenger. The film is based on the true story of Webb, a journalist who stumbles on leads that take him to the beginning of the crack epidemic in America and the theories of conspiracy that go along with it. The trailer plays to the beats of films we've seen before about noble acts, where the main character sacrifices what is important to him for the greater importance of those he can inform but it looks to be executed with keen precision and high-caliber acting here. Adapted from Webb's book by Peter Landesman (Parkland) and directed by Michael Cuesta (Six Feet Under, Dexter, Homeland) this serves the kind of unnerving performance Renner can deliver a la The Hurt Locker and The Town. There is much to like on display here, but more than anything I'm looking forward to how Cuesta captures the specific tone of this genre and if the globe-trotting investigation aspects feel like something fresh. I'm intrigued if not by the inherently engaging story and truths it uncovered, but for the caliber of the cast they have recruited here to support Renner in what he no doubt hopes to be a definitive role that cements his leading man status. Kill the Messenger also stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Liotta, Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Platt, Andy Garcia, Tim Blake Nelson, Robert Patrick, Michael Kenneth Williams, Paz Vega and opens October 10th.